


a life on fire (oh, how do i put it out?)

by myglassesaredirty



Series: Jesse Adopts Michelle [1]
Category: Full House (US)
Genre: (at the risk of my grades), Alternate Universe, Character Death, Fire, Gen, and this idea just came to me as i was watching the early seasons, i've been binge watching this show, okay this isn't technically my fault, set early S2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 18:23:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21378526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myglassesaredirty/pseuds/myglassesaredirty
Summary: On a December night, Danny built a fire for the girls. They all go to bed, and one log continues to smolder. The house catches on fire.Thankfully, Jesse is still awake when that happens.
Relationships: Michelle Tanner & Jesse Katsopolis
Series: Jesse Adopts Michelle [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541188
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	a life on fire (oh, how do i put it out?)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miracolina01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miracolina01/gifts).

> Listen.
> 
> LISTEN.
> 
> I have no defense for myself, just that I really love angst and really love procrastinating, so I combined the two and now I have this. First part of a two-part series (I think)
> 
> Michelle is about a year old at this point. All I know for sure is that she can say "Stephy" just a little bit
> 
> Wait no I do have a defense: my friend called me a pussy so I had to write this. Sorry, I don't make the rules.

Once a year, he opens his Bible. Once a year, he picks up Pam’s old Bible, the one she gave to him in her will, and he thumbs through it, and it always falls open to Luke 2. He opens the Bible the day after Thanksgiving ends and he reads it until the day after Christmas ends. No one touches his Bible, not even Jesse himself except for that one time a year when he rereads the same gospel and tries to remind himself of the same message, one of hope.

He keeps thinking that one day, the message will finally break through and the pain will go away, but tonight, that pain is worse than ever.

The girls went to bed four hours ago. Danny and Joey both clocked out twenty minutes ago, and Jesse is still up, still staring at the same verse, and he’s wondering why in the hell he’s still here when Pam isn’t. Pam was the one who should have lived; if either of them were supposed to die before their time, it should have been him. He was reckless and stupid; Pam was sensible and wise beyond her years. She had three children, three beautiful daughters; Jesse had no strings attached.

He sniffles and closes the Bible, ready to turn out the light. As he reaches to set the Bible on his nightstand, heat burns the nape of his neck, and he sighs heavily, debating if it’s worth getting up to change the thermostat. His eyes sting, and his throat closes.

A primal instinct reacts before the rest of his brain can catch up to him:  _ Run. Get Michelle, help her breathe, and get the hell out of dodge. _

Now, who is Jesse to argue with sound logic like that?

It’s only once his hand makes contact with the doorknob and he jerks his hand away with a hiss that his brain catches up to his instinct: there is a fire. In the house. The house is on fire.

“Holy shit,” he murmurs, rushing back to his bed and grabbing a towel, “the house is on fire.” He grips the knob, pulls his door open, and rushes to the bathroom, drenching the towel in water. “The house is on fire!” he shouts. “Danny! Danny, Joey, wake up! The house is on fire!”

Smoke gathers in his throat and he coughs, pushing his way out of the bathroom and stumbling into a cloud of black smoke. He hears footsteps on the stairs and sticks his index finger in the direction of DJ and Stephanie’s room. “Joey, I’ve got Michelle! You take care of the other two.”

Joey covers his mouth with his robe and nods. Danny, too, has stumbled his way through the smog and forces open the door to his daughters’ room. “What about –”

Jesse waves a hand. “I’ll take care of Michelle, you two take care of the other girls!” Part of him knows that there’s something he can do to make this safer for Michelle, but he doesn’t know. He’s the adult, and he should know everything, but right now, all he knows is that he needs to get his little niece outside of this house as fast as fucking possible.

Michelle holds her pink pig and cries.

“I’m here,” he whispers, shaking the towel free. “I’m here, and I’m going to get you out of here.” He quickly ties it around the back of her head, lifts her into his arms, and rushes out of the room. The smoke is thicker, and the house groans. He runs downstairs. The other girls cough behind him, and he wants to turn around and help, but he knows Danny and Joey are taking care of it. Michelle has little lungs. Michelle needs to get out right now.

He jumps down the staircase. The landing groans beneath him, and Jesse winces. He takes the rest of the stairs two at a time. Michelle is still crying.

“Dad, I’m stuck!”

“Joey, I fell!”

Jesse closes his eyes and rips open the front door.  _ All Joey has to do is pick up Stephanie and carry her down the stairs. All Danny has to do is make sure DJ gets out. They’re almost out. We’re almost out of here. _

He runs out into the night air that chills his skin, and Michelle blinks at him with her big blue eyes. He doesn’t check the street to make sure no cars are coming: he makes the assumption that cars will see the big flaming house and stop for any survivors trying to flee.

Once he’s across the street, he turns around, still holding Michelle close to his chest, ready to shout for Danny and Joey that he’s across the street. He doesn’t see them.

The house groans again, but this time, the roof collapses. The house folds in on itself.

Jesse has the vague sense that he should be screaming. Michelle tucks her head into his neck.  _ There’s no way that they’re still in there. There’s just no way. _

The fire department speeds up the road, and firefighters spill out of the truck. A couple of them see him with Michelle, and they rush to him and ask him a bunch of stupid questions, but the only two sentences he has for them is: “yes, this girl is alright” and “where the fuck is my family?”

They bring him a gurney and strap an oxygen mask to both of their heads. The EMT checks them over. “You saved this little girl’s life,” he says with a small smile. A part of him knows this was the only victory in this house fire. “You did good, sir.”

Jesse rubs the back of his hands, itching to call Becky. He stares at the house, and with each passing second, he knows more and more what happened in there: they died. They’re not coming out.

He’s not entirely sure how Becky found out about the fire, if she was paged about the incident or if a friend told her, but she stops the car short of the danger area and runs up to both him and Michelle. “Is everyone okay?” she asks, pushing her hair away from her face.

Jesse’s face falls, and he lifts the oxygen mask. “The rest of them aren’t coming out. They probably died when the roof collapsed. Michelle and I were already outside.”

Becky presses her lips together and rubs his back. “Oh, Jess.” She wants to say more, but she doesn’t have the words.

Michelle scoots closer to him and wraps her arms around his, and Jesse knows what he has to do.

By dawn, the fire has died out, and the firefighters take a walk through to make sure that the fire is completely out. When they’re satisfied, they come get him.

He steps over a broken shutter and tucks his hands into his pockets. Just by glancing around, he can find exactly where they died: Stephanie’s stuffed bear gives it away. He can’t see much of her, but he can see the bear, and he shakes his head.

_ She tried to save that damned bear. _

He continues his walk through, the firefighters escorting him through the remains of the house. In the midst of all the rubble, of the smoke and destruction, in between dead bodies and collapsed ceilings, only one thing remains: Pam’s Bible, and it smolders with one last breath of life still trapped inside.

**Author's Note:**

> Like it, love it, hate it? Leave a comment below or go to my tumblr, @ my-glasses-are-dirty, and tell me what you think!


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